Multimillionaire dog dies, shunned by cemetery

Trouble, the pampered companion of the late Leona Helmsley, recently died at age 12. (That’s 84 in dog years.) The dog made headlines in 2007 when Helmsley, a real estate mogul famous for saying “only the little people pay taxes,” died and left him $12 million.

Contrary to Helmsley’s wishes, Trouble won’t be buried alongside her in a12,000-square-foot mausoleum in New York City. The cemetery forbids it, meaning Trouble’s body will be cremated.

Trouble spent his last years in Florida — like any self-respecting elderly millionaire might.

Despite his millions, Trouble had been troubled in his later years; the dog was blind and feeble when he died, sources told the Daily News. That’s not to mention the dozens of death and kidnapping threats he received, according to a spokesman for the Helmsley Charitable Trust, which receives the balance of the funds set aside for Trouble’s care. That care reportedly included $8,000 a year for grooming, $1,200 for food, and a full-time bodyguard.

Originally purchased at a Manhattan pet shop to console Helmsley after the death of her husband, Harry, the impeccably groomed and garbed Maltese was accustomed to traveling among his mistress’s many properties via stretch limousine and private jet. In contrast, Helmsley scorned two of her own grandchildren in her will.

You might suspect that Trouble was the richest dog in the world. The truth is, I’m not sure exactly how to verify that fact — but we know he comes in a distant second to a German dog that inherited $372 million when his owner died.